Book Review: Life Is Hard. God Is Good. Let’s Dance By Star 99.1 Morning Radio Host Brant Hansen

Life Is Hard. God Is Good. Let’s Dance – Experiencing Real Joy In A World Gone Mad

This is an excellent book for anyone, but it is mostly targeted toward, and will be best accepted by, Christians. The author speaks about Jesus quite a bit, but also talks a lot about our relationship with God, and how that can bring us great joy, changing us in the process.  

What I liked most about this book was the humor.  It is full of hilarious anecdotes, and is funny from start to finish.  The author has had so many funny experiences, related not just to his faith, but also to his life in general. 

For example, he brings us into his own experience of being a person always feeling a little bit odd.  He is on the autism spectrum, and is not afraid to talk about it.  He is not ashamed of his personal foibles, but he is also not necessarily proud of them.  This is quite refreshing, as is the author’s ability to laugh at himself.  

On many occasions, the author has been asked to speak on television, or in front of crowds, or in many other ways to overcome his own shyness.  By nature, he tells us of his awkwardness and shyness, but also of his faith in God.  He also has great faith in other people of faith, particularly Christians.  However, he is not under any illusions about their own imperfection and sinfulness.  For example, he reminds us of how many priests and other holy people he has known, including his own relatives in the church, who have been unfaithful spouses.

As a culture, we have this irrational expectation of perfection from everyone.  This applies particularly to those in political office or in positions of power and authority.  For example priests.  We expect priests to be pious, and they are to be faithful to their congregations and to their wives.  But all too often, we see infidelity among the church members. 

But the author does not give up on them, and he doesn’t judge them, either.  In his own charming way, and in the way of Jesus and the God of compassion, he has understanding and forgiveness for them.  He hopes they will come to an understanding, but in the meantime, he doesn’t give up on the church. 

We are also introduced, quite heavily throughout the book, to his favorite charity, CURE.  This charity admittedly appears to do some really great things in this world.  They take children whose lives have been destroyed by a disfigurement, and they make them whole again. 

Personally, I have often wondered about these types of surgeries.  These surgeons are “correcting” something that a child may have been born with, such as a harelip or elephantiasis.  However, in my ignorance, I forgot that other cultures treat people who are different in terrible ways.  

Even in our culture, deformities in children and adults are looked down upon.  However, we do not call these children monsters here in the US.  At least, usually not anymore, and for certain they are not completely ostracized.  In other cultures, such as in India, if a child is born with a deformity, they are likely to be called monsters and ostracized.  If their parents refuse to reject them, and choose instead to love them, then they are cast out from the community as well.  

An example of this way of thinking was explained to me years ago by Tina Allen of the Liddle Kidz Foundation.  She had done some work in India, where husbands who were married to women that they wanted to leave would sometimes throw acid in their face. Many women experienced these attacks from members of their husband’s families, such as if they failed to attend a wedding, give a foot massage, or refuse to do something they don’t want to do. 

If this happened to a woman, her life was ruined.  They were blamed for their own disfigurement, in some kind of twisted idea of karma, where they had somehow caused their wicked husbands or family members to do this. 

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These women are completely expelled from their society.  Some of these women have formed their own sub-societies within the Indian culture, where they work together and are able to support their families.  Make Love, Not Scars is one such charity.  And, unfortunately, these acid attacks are on the rise, as there are almost no consequences to the perpetrators, and they continue to live their lives while their former wives or other relatives lose everything.  

Regarding the CURE program, these societies have the same view of children who are born disfigured.  They are considered monsters and ostracized. At the hospitals, which are run as a charity, children with such disfigurements are surgically repaired, for free.

They nearly always come from low income families, where their parents wouldn’t have been able to afford the surgeries for them.  They do all kinds of surgeries, from elephantiasis to harelips, and everything in between.  They do change kids’ lives, as when they return home, they are considered miracles instead of monsters.  It has changed many lives and the author himself has witnessed many of these changes.  So, this is his favorite charity.  

This book is excellent.  It will make you laugh, then you might cry or get tears in your eyes, then laugh again.  The author’s positivity and joy are contagious, and he is excellent at conveying them.  

Having listened to his radio show many times, he is very funny.  But reading this book, it is much funnier.  Maybe it’s because I have the volume too low when listening, and he speaks kind of low, but the stories in this book are hilarious.  For some reason, strange things often happen to him, and like many radio personalities and comedians, he uses these life situations as fodder for his radio show and comedic interludes in general.  

Before I end this review, of course with a strong recommendation to get this book, especially if you are looking for a light-hearted book about finding joy in the little things of life, I want to share with you my favorite story from the book. 

At some point recently, the author was invited to a ribbon cutting in India, for an outdoor restroom that had been constructed next to a small town in India, in part by Compassion International.  Listeners of the author’s radio station and show may know Compassion International as a frequent advertiser and PSA presenter on Star 99.1.  So here he is, in India, and he is given the honor of cutting the ribbon on this new bathroom.  Here is the rest of the story in the author’s words:

“The crowd seemed very excited… I’m the ribbon cutter??  Ashwin told me the crowd was honoring their guest, me, by allowing him to cut the ribbon for the new restrooms! It was a concrete-block building that sat next to a village in southern India….

“I didn’t do anything to deserve this honor, but I accepted, and when I cut the ribbon, the crowd applauded wildly.  We all smiled.  I stood there for a little bit, not knowing what to do.  It seemed like they were waiting for..me?

“’Um, what’s happening?’

 “Ashwin: ‘They want you to be the first to use it’

“‘Like…now?’

“‘Yeah, just go in and use it and come back out’

“I was trying to talk to him in a hushed way without moving my lips for some reason, looking back and forth at everybody.  I leaned my head in toward Ashwin.

“‘But I don’t really… need to…go……so’ Ashwin nudged me forward.

“I walked up a few steps in front of the crowd and ducked into the men’s room.  I figured I’d stand there for a minute and come back out.  I noticed the windows were up high, but it was open air.  No glass. And I’m here to tell you what I heard next filled me with dread: silence.  The crowd outside was quiet.  Waiting for me.  

“This was a pressure situation.  I don’t know how else to put it, except by typing a short sentence I hope I never have to type again.  I didn’t need to pee, but I needed to pee.  I stood there in the heat and humidity and wondered how this kind of thing happens to me.  

“I will now end this story by telling you that, yes, it ended very successfully…and the movie rights are available for bidding.  As I emerged back into the sunlight, the crowd applauded, like I’d just birdied the twelfth hole at Augusta.”

This book is highly recommended, and I would give it five stars. 

Banner Image: Book cover. Image Credit – Harper Collins